Dysfunctional swallow/ tongue thrust swallow

Mouth breathing can be either wide open lips or barely apart. The tongue is often low in posture, forward or sticking out. Mouth breathing is the most common sign of a tongue thrust.  

Speech Concerns can be a sign of tongue thrust swallowing, especially lisping. Other indicators include challenges pronouncing “T, D, N, and L” sounds. General problems with articulation, rate of speech, voice quality and clarity may also be present.

Sucking habits can cause tongue thrust swallowing to develop. When long term sucking on thumb, finger or binky occurs, the formation of the mouth and position of the tongue are changed. Even if the child quits the habit, the damage caused to the function of the tongue, facial musculature, and other structures often remains. These dysfunctions can create more issues long term like temporomandibular joint dysfunction or be a part of sleep disordered breathing. 

Orthodontic Relapse often occurs because the muscles of our lips and cheeks push the teeth into incorrect placement. Since our tongue acts as a scafold for our jaws, if there is dysfunctional tongue placement and swallowing, teeth grow in the wrong position. Over time, improper use of muscles, including the tongue, will undo much of the orthodontic treatment. 

Open Bite is a classic sign of a swallowing dysfunction. The form of the jaws and teeth, follow the fuction of the tongue. This can also occur on the side of the jaws where the tongue thrusts off to the side. The teeth in the middle of the jaws, the premolars, can’t come together from top to bottom. This is also an excellent sign of a swallowing dysfunction. 

Using Facial Muscles to swallow is a sign of muscle dysfunction. In a normal swallowing pattern, the tongue does all the work. When there is a dysfunctional swallowing pattern, the lips and cheek muscles contract to create a vacuum effect to get food, water, or saliva down the throat. Since we swallow 2,000 times at day, imagine what overuse of the facial muscles can do overtime.

TMJ or Facial Pain can occur overtime with overuuse of muscles.  One symptom of a dysfunctional swallowing pattern is pain in the cheek muscles or in the jaw joint from frequent overuse of these body parts.